Page 43 of Her Arranged Alpha
Sam snorted next to me, and I glared at her. She started to laugh, which then caused everyone else to join in. I couldn't help the smile that pulled at my lips.
"What is so funny over here?" I looked over my shoulder as Tara and Jessie stood behind me. I pulled myself up and gaveeach of them a hug, feeling they were hugging me back just as tightly.
"We were talking about Jillian's sex life," Nina said, waving a hand at the extra chairs. "Take a seat and enjoy the details."
I rolled my eyes. "There are no details. Nina, you were supposed to side with me on this."
Nina laughed. "I would normally, but your cheeks are all red, which tells me there is something to tell."
Was my face red? Was I blushing over the thought? No. There was no way.
"It's the liquor I've had," I said, feeling it was better than admitting I was blushing.
Nina laughed. "Okay, if you say so." I could hear in her voice that she didn't believe me.
I sat back down and smiled at Tara and Jessie. "It's great to see you guys. Thanks for coming."
"We couldn't miss a party put together for you. Besides, we were in town."
It was nice to catch up with them. It was even nicer to get my mind off all my issues and forget about what had been happening over the past few weeks.
"Has anyone heard any news about the darkness?" Sam asked, leaning back in her chair with a grim face.
All of their heads seemed to shake, minus the witches, and we all perked up. Hope looked at Tara and Jessie, who looked back at her. You could tell from that look it was something juicy, something secret.
"Hey, quit the eye thing and tell us," Nina said, waving a hand.
Hope looked at us. "Well, we're not really supposed to say anything, but they might know who is doing this."
"What!" we all said in unison, leaning closer to her. "What are you talking about?"
"Nina, do you recall an older teacher that Frank maybe mentioned?"
Nina nodded. "Yeah, he was having his brother look into a teacher because she was possibly connected to this."
"Well, years ago, a man lost his son, but this kid just disappeared from everything. Paper, online, and in-text. There was no information about this kid or the parents. Besides word of mouth, which isn't always trustworthy."
"Apparently, all the Alphas were there."
Sam shook her head. "It's not possible. None of them remembers being together like that. They didn't even all meet until they were older."
Hope frowned and reached into his pocket. She slid a picture across the table. "Frank asked us to talk with the teacher. She had a broken mind, but we did piece things together."
We all looked down at a photo of kids who were maybe five years old. They were all standing in the middle of the woods. You could see the faces in all of them, looking so happy, and in the middle was a boy.
"She told us that the guys were all playing near a river when the dam went out. The waters got too high, and they all were pulled further down. Only the strong survived."
My stomach dipped.
Sam covered her mouth, and Katie pulled the picture closer.
"He died?" I asked softly.
Hope nodded. "And they were all training to be Alphas. The father was livid, accusing the boys of killing his son, and the Council had to cover it up. So, they wiped all the guys' minds and slapped an NDA on the school and the town. Everything was erased."
"Fuck," Nina leaned back in her seat.
Hope nodded. "Yeah. I told Frank a couple of days ago, and he told the guys."
